With its tiny brain (and no cortex), the elephantnose fish (Gnathonemus petersii)* achieves performance comparable to that of humans or other mammals in certain tasks, according to zoologists at the University of Bonn and a colleague from Oxford.

To perceive objects in the water, the fish uses electrolocation (similar to the echolocation of bats) to perceive objects in the water, aided by an electrical organ in… read more

Physical exercise after learning improves memory and memory traces if the exercise is done four hours later, and not immediately after learning, according to findings recently reported (open-access) in the Cell Press journal Current Biology.

It’s not yet clear exactly how or why delayed exercise has this effect on memory. However, earlier studies of laboratory animals suggest that naturally occurring chemical compounds in the body known as catecholamines, including… read more

A new study helps explain how brain structure and chemistry relate to “fluid intelligence” — the ability to adapt to new situations and solve problems one has never encountered before.

The study, reported in an open-access paper in the journal NeuroImage, observed two facets of fluid intelligence*:

• Verbal or spatial reasoning was linked to higher concentrations of a compound called NAA (N-acetyl aspartate) in the medial parietal

… read more